Sinner, that was quite a low blow: did he do it on purpose?
Not even time to say goodbye to the two rivals who gave him the most trouble that immediately landed, in the major circuit, two newcomers who understood from the start how to bother him and how to beat him. He did not have a moment’s respite, in short, former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian champion has to reckon, today, with two giants who have exploded at lightning speed, namely Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have excellently replaced, in this race for the throne, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But Nole, it is known, is a lion. And, as such, he is certain that his career is not yet over and that there are still a few more arrows in his quiver. After all, he still won, last summer, the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, so it is clear that when he sets his mind to something, there is nothing and no one that can somehow convince him to give up.
This time he has set his mind, for example, to return to winning. Therefore, the Iberian and the Italian will not have it easy, starting as early as the now upcoming Australian Open. Djokovic has won so many times, in the land of kangaroos, that he knows that surface better than he knows his own pockets. It will take a full-fledged counteroffensive, then, to avert the risk that the Serbian phenom could come back to dominate on the blue cement of Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic sinks Sinner: words under indictment
More so when we consider that Nole, or so it seems, is as fierce as ever. This has been inferred from the numerous statements he has made to the press both in recent days and during the winter break, from one sentence in particular.
GQ magazine, which questioned him on numerous issues on the eve of the start of the first Slam of the year, involved him, among other things, in a game of “associations.” That is, he invited him to match the names of certain players with a word that in some way described them. For Roger Federer he chose elegance, which, in all fairness, fits. For Rafael Nadal he chose another very apt word, which is tenacity. He chose charisma, on the other hand, to encapsulate in a handful of letters the essence of the time bomb that is Carlos Alcaraz.
There were words suitable to describe Jannik Sinner’s temperament and champion mentality, yet Djokovic did not intend to choose any of them. He threw in one at random, one that is not entirely foreign to the universe of blue but says nothing about his talent and merits that even a fool should give him credit for. He matched him with “skiing,” something Sinner does regularly, but which has little to do, precisely, with the world of tennis. Whether this is a strategy put in place to “belittle” the most fearsome opponent he may come across at the moment? According to the people on social media, yes.
